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Illinois Valley enjoys ‘week long celebration’ of baseball at Senior League World Series · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Illinois Valley enjoys week long celebration of baseball at Senior
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  Speaker 1: League World Series. Written by Kevin Schlum, this article is
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  Speaker 1: being read by an automated voice brought to you by
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  Speaker 1: Everlett Espen McFadden has never flown before this summer, but
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  Speaker 1: baseball gave him the opportunity to get on a plane.
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  Speaker 1: As McFadden and his Illinois Valley Senior League teammates qualified
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  Speaker 1: for the World Series in Easley, South Carolina. Illinois Valley
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  Speaker 1: was the first District twenty team to advance to the
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  Speaker 1: World Series. It was like a dream, McFadden said, it
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  Speaker 1: was so fun. We wanted to do this since the
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  Speaker 1: beginning of the season. We were so excited we won
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  Speaker 1: the Central Region tournament in Peru. All our family, our
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  Speaker 1: parents and grandparents were so excited for us. I've never
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  Speaker 1: flown before. I've never been more than maybe five hours
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  Speaker 1: from home. I was just excited to come meet people
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  Speaker 1: and played baseball in a different state. We didn't play well,
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  Speaker 1: but we came and enjoyed the moment. Illinois Valley coach
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  Speaker 1: Lance Sebert called the World Series an incredible week long
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  Speaker 1: celebration of baseball with a great group of kids and coaches.
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  Speaker 1: Aside from playing the games, the Illinois Valley team took
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  Speaker 1: a touros Clemson's athletic facilities, filmed intros for the ESPN
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  Speaker 1: Plus broadcasts, competed with the other teams in non baseball
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  Speaker 1: competition and a talent contest, and interacted with teams from
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  Speaker 1: around the country and world. McFadden said the iv players
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  Speaker 1: were nervous for the ESPN intros. We had never done
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  Speaker 1: this before and we were all nervous. McFadden said. It
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  Speaker 1: took us a couple times, but we got it on
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  Speaker 1: our third time. The Illinois Valley players enjoyed hanging out
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  Speaker 1: with the Hawaiian team in the hotel. McFadden said the
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  Speaker 1: Texas team was nice as well. Everyone here is just great.
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  Speaker 1: McFadden said, they're amazing. Siebert said the teams got along well.
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  Speaker 1: You could feel the respect and curiosity between players, coaches,
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  Speaker 1: and families. Siebert said everyone was extremely friendly and the
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  Speaker 1: sportsmanship displayed by everyone was outstanding. Illinois Valley lost its
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  Speaker 1: opening game nine zero to Southeast before being eliminated with
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  Speaker 1: an eleven to one lost to South Carolina District one.
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  Speaker 1: We practiced a couple of days out here and the
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  Speaker 1: experience was so nice. McFadden said. The fields are beautiful,
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  Speaker 1: The grass is very nice and short. It's like a
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  Speaker 1: golf course. We were all excited to play our first game.
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  Speaker 1: The atmosphere out here is great, The energy is so good.
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  Speaker 1: The competition was good. The other teams had pretty good pitching.
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  Speaker 1: We knew coming in we were going to face better players,
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  Speaker 1: better defense, and if we made mistakes, they were going
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  Speaker 1: to make us pay. We made a couple mistakes and
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  Speaker 1: it hurt us. We didn't play our kind of baseball.
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  Speaker 1: If we had, I think we had a chance to
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  Speaker 1: beat the teams we played. While the games didn't turn
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  Speaker 1: out as hoped, Siebert said, the way the IV players
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  Speaker 1: handled themselves and the team's chemistry will stick with him.
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  Speaker 1: The moments that will stick with me is how our
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  Speaker 1: guys carried themselves at every practice, every warm up, and
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  Speaker 1: every inning. Sebert said, they showed a level of maturity
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  Speaker 1: and togetherness that made our whole community proud. I'll also
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  Speaker 1: remember the way our players connected with each other off
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  Speaker 1: the field, whether it was late night team meals, hanging
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  Speaker 1: out at the hotel, or the way they rallied around
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  Speaker 1: each other after a tough inning and kept battling regardless
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  Speaker 1: of the score. The chemistry this team had was as
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  Speaker 1: special as anything that happened on the field fought. McFadden
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  Speaker 1: and his teammates, who returned home Thursday, appreciated the support
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  Speaker 1: they received from the Illinois Valley community. I love the fans,
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  Speaker 1: They're just great, McFadden said. I had people texting me
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  Speaker 1: after our first game. Looking at Facebook, everyone was wishing
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  Speaker 1: us good luck. The parade for us after the Central
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  Speaker 1: Region title game, all the players were so happy. Everyone
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  Speaker 1: was so proud. We're so happy. We just love all
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  Speaker 1: our fans. We can't thank everybody enough. The World Series
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  Speaker 1: is scheduled to end Saturday, with the US champion facing
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  Speaker 1: the International champion in the title game at three pm
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  Speaker 1: on ESPN Plus.